La Liga Week 12 action - Ronaldo kicks out
Wednesday 09 December 2009
The match of the week took place at the Santiago Bernabéu, as Real Madrid looked to exorcise their El Clasico demons against struggling Almería.
Los Blancos took the lead after half an hour courtesy of a powerful Sergio Ramos header from a pinpoint cross from Cristiano Ronaldo. The visitors rallied and stunned the 80,000-strong crowd with two goals in three minutes. the first came from a deflected Fernando Soriano strike, before a solo effort by Kalu Uche. The home side responded and were level 10 minutes later, the in-form Gonzalo Higuaín pouncing on poor defending to slot the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.
Ronaldo then started off what was a rollercoaster finale, breaking free of the Almería defence before being taken down by the onrushing Diego Alves. The Portuguese star stepped up to take the penalty, but it was saved before substitute Karim Benzema fired home the rebound. Ronaldo was then vindicated when Higuaín set him up to score Madrid’s fourth. The winger was soon sent off, after a moment of sheer petulance saw him kick out at José Ortiz and collect his second yellow card.
There was late drama at San Mames where Athletic Bilbao welcomed Valencia. A subdued first half gave way to a second period of great animation, as 16-year-old striker Iker Muniain (the league’s youngest ever goalscorer) replaced the injured Pablo Orbaiz in the 54th minute before putting the home side ahead. Their lead was gone as quickly as it had arrived as David Villa equalised for the visitors within three minutes of the opener. Valencia pressed and went ahead when Jeremy Mathieu scored past the stranded Gorka Iraizoz.
Los Che looked to have surrendered their lead when the referee awarded a soft penalty for an infringement by David Navarro in the 86th minute. David Lopez took the penalty but was denied by the post, leaving Bilbao to rue missed chances while Valencia blew a collective sigh of relief after climbing to third in the table.
League leaders Barcelona maintained their unbeaten run after a 3-1 victory over Deportivo La Coruña at the Estadio Riazor. Lionel Messi was in vintage form and put the visitors ahead after 26 minutes with a thunderous, left-footed strike into the bottom corner. Deportivo were handed a lifeline when Adrián López’s header was bundled into the goal by an embarrassed Víctor Valdés. However, the champions controlled the flow of the game and went on to win the match, taking the lead through a well-worked Messi header, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic secured the points with just moments remaining.
Villarreal and Atlético Madrid seem to have put their early worries behind them after both sides collected wins at the weekend. Atlético cantered to a routine 2-0 win against bottom side Xerez, but Villarreal encountered greater difficulty as they took on Getafe at El Madrigal. The visitors took the lead through Pedro León early on, but Villarreal fought back and were level at the interval after a Joan Capdevila equaliser. They were then reduced to ten men when Cani brought down Roberto Soldado to give the visitors a penalty, which was duly dispatched by the striker. Villarreal fought back and were level when substitute Santi Cazorla fired a stunning volley into the top corner, before Capdevila scored his second of the match to give the home side all three points in the 87th minute.
Elsewhere in La Liga, Sevilla dropped to fourth place after being held to a second consecutive draw against Valladolid. They were again saved by the boot of Luís Fabiano, who levelled at 1-1 with a penalty after the former Manchester United striker Manucho had put the visitors ahead.
Mallorca are in sixth after a 4-1 win over Zaragoza, who are dangerously teetering above the drop zone in 17th place. Racing Santander ran out shock 4-0 winners against Espanyol at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, while Tenerife surprised high-flying Sporting Gijón with a 2-1 win. Málaga left it late to rescue a point against Osasuna after Apoño made it 1-1 in the 82nd minute.
Full results
Saturday 5 December, 2009
Deportivo La Coruña 1-3 Barcelona
Real Madrid 4-2 Almería
Xerez 0-2 Atlético Madrid
Sevilla 1-1 Real Valladolid
Sunday 6 December, 2009
Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Valencia
Villarreal 3-2 Getafe
Málaga 1-1 Osasuna
Mallorca 4-1 Zaragoza
Tenerife 2-1 Sporting Gijón
Espanyol 0-4 Racing Santander
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